Drivers urged to watch speed in Merrivale Road

Drivers using Merrivale Road in North Prospect are being urged to keep an eye on their speed.

The residential road has a 20mph limit but people living there say cars are regularly speeding through, putting their safety at risk.

Council Leader and local ward councillor Tudor Evans has asked the Council’s road safety team to install a ‘speed visor’, which will capture all vehicle speeds along the road during August.

It will also flash the speed up on a digital sign to let drivers know how fast they are travelling and remind them to stay within the limit.

Councillor Evans said: “There is a temporary closure on North Prospect Road at the moment while redevelopment work takes place and unfortunately lots of drivers are choosing to use Merrivale Road instead of following the signed diversion.

“We can’t stop drivers taking this route but they must remember it is a quiet residential road and stay within the 20mph limit.

“Residents are really concerned so I’ve asked for a survey to be carried out over the next couple of weeks to see how bad the problem is and I hope the flashing sign will remind drivers to check their speed.”

Adrian Trim, the Council’s Head of Living Streets and Network Management said: “Cutting your speed by just a few miles an hour can mean the difference between life and death. The faster you’re driving, the less time you have to stop if something unexpected happens.

“We put 20mph limits in place specifically to reduce the risk of road casualties in residential areas like this – and drivers should remember that a 20mph limit means that’s the maximum speed they should travel, not a target they should try to reach.”